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Dick Dale at the Rendezvous Did you read about the March 16 passing of pioneer surf-music guitarist Dick Dale, who got his start firing up the famous stomps at the Rendezvous Ballroom on Balboa back in the ‘60s? Dale got his throbbing style from Big Band drummer Gene Krupa, who...

Luck of the Irish To honor St. Patrick’s Day, I should tell the story of John Monahan, a son of Ireland no longer with us. I worked for John at a Procter & Gamble plant that used to be in Long Beach. I was starting my career; he was nearing the end of his. He had been a...

Kids Doing Better Sometimes you bump into a subject so uplifting you just have to tell about it. This one’s about a sensitive topic—sex. It’s a wonderful thing, sex, but there are a few issues. Adolescents, for example, may be drawn to it before they have matured enough to...

Spirituality and Lent It is the spiritual dimension that gives substance to the meaning of our lives. Spirituality is innate, it lies within us all—I’ve never known a person to deny their spirituality. The challenge, in the complexity of life, is to set aside time to cultivate...

Faith in the Time of Doubt You have to love the way rock hounds take a common stone and polish it into a thing of glistening beauty. The rock tumbler—a small motorized barrel that holds rocks, polishing grit, and water—provides the process, tumbling the rocks non-stop for weeks...

The Summer of ’34 This is a true story dug from Laguna’s past. A story about love, and how it shapes our lives. In the summer of ’34, five people crossed paths in Laguna. Four were married, and neighbors. Gigi Parrish, an aspiring actress appeared in three movies that year. Born...

Love That Transforms This is the 52nd “Finding Meaning” column. It’s been a year. The first column, like this one, followed Groundhog Day. It was a cue to that transcendent movie, “Groundhog Day,” featuring Bill Murray and the delectable Andie McDowell. A year ago, I wr...

Still Slaves A harsh reality of our shrinking world is how technology brings mankind’s darkest deeds into high definition focus. Distant wrongs confront people of good will.  It is an ancient story, that humans commit inhuman acts. The strong exploit the weak; the evil prey on...

Birth of Belief North Korea is an enigma, known for public executions, militant bombast, and famine. Add to that a people so desperate for freedom they risk death to escape. Last week two escapees, a couple in their 30’s, visited Laguna and I was able to interview them. For their...

Spiritual Dimensions Finding meaning isn’t easy. To do it well, you need spiritual perspective. It’s a soulful thing. Problem is, the spiritual is often lost in life’s minutiae. Technical guys refer to this as the signal-to-noise problem. The noise of daily life can overwhelm...

The Century Rule The search for meaning lies at the heart our life journey. One may err along the way, but we usually deal with it and chalk it up to experience. Hence the saying, “Live and learn.” In the church setting, this is called repentance. Learning is easiest when effects...

Divine Resolutions The best argument for a divine origin of us humans? New Year’s resolutions. Plain and simple. It defies mortal reckoning, the way we annually will ourselves to rise above ourselves. Remember the poetic phrase, “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps?” We...

Christmas Kindness  Are you searching for that true meaning of Christmas? It’s elusive, easily lost in the hustle and bustle. The true spirit can catch you unawares, when least expected. If you all shared an account of your very best Christmas, it would make a great book. A...

First Christmas on Canyon Creek Does your childhood have a place of magical meaning? For me, it was a mountain cabin my grandfather built near tiny Baxter in northern California. My dearest childhood memories trace to that cabin, and the creek that ran below it. Called Canyon...

A Day of Infamy Some dates are especially fraught with meaning—like today, Dec. 7. Forever linked to the attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin D. Roosevelt told Congress it would “live in infamy.”  Roosevelt’s prior speeches had been met by Democratic applause and Republican...